Inspiration
by nesting-seraph
Summary: Ryou feels as though he has never been loved. Malik is new in town, shunned by Ishizu, his older sister and her homophobic boyfriend. But this is about to change. This is what happens when lives become intertwined. Shonen ai.
1. IMPORTANT NOTICE

**Dear Reader, **

This version of INSPIRATION is officially **discontinued**. However, a **new version** of this story can be found on my account. It has some much needed **improvements **and is entitled **Another Chance.**

It will be **updated** with all the improved chapters **ASAP**.

Just so you know, I was this close to **abandoning** the entire fic, but I couldn't do it because I know that some people really liked this story.

**Sorry** for posting an Authors note, but I wanted to give you all a heads up so you know **I am continuing this. **

**Thank you** again **^O^**

Kal277** x**


	2. The Start Of A Disaster

**Hi!**

**This is my first fanfic, so please just read and tell me what you think!**

**Disclaimer: I definitely don't own Yu gi oh. if i did it would be very very yaoish. And the English version would be accurate.**

The door shut with a loud bang. Ryou ran one hand through his dripping silver hair while the other fumbled with his coat buttons. The wind howled outside and the noise of the rain was almost deafening as it splattered against the firmly closed windows, but Ryou didn't really mind. _Anything, _he thought, _was better than silence. _The silence he should have gotten used to by now, but never had.

After finally removing his wet coat and shoes, he wandered into the kitchen. As usual, he didn't bother to read the note his mother had written, just crumpled it in his palm. Ryou guessed she didn't care. He changed course from the kitchen to his bedroom, which was always a good place to go when he was alone in the house. He took the stairs three at a time, making short work of them with his long legs. As he reached the top of the stairs, he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror. Lily-white skin, huge, wide eyes the colour of black coffee, long silvery hair. He grimaced. _Why do I have to look so_ _feminine?_ He mentally cursed his own prettiness. Eventually, sighing, he retreated to the small room that was his safe haven.

It was a simple room, with white walls, a small bed with a blue duvet, a wooden desk and a wardrobe. He had his own bathroom, which was a bonus, although it was not much larger than a cupboard. There were a few drawings pasted on the wall above his bed, some more scattered across his desk along with a pot of pencils and some watercolour paints, but that was about it.

Ryou had never been one for games. Even as a small child, he had been solemn and mature. For his seventh birthday he had asked for a "proper sketchpad" and up until recently, when he had been given a new laptop, he hadn't been the slightest bit interested in any kind of new fangled kit that most teenage boys were raving about. At the age of sixteen, he was sweet, gentle and somewhat naive. He was quite shy with strangers and immensely disliked being the centre of attention. He much preferred anonymousness. But that didn't mean, however, that he did not want to be loved.

It was a long time since Ryou had felt loved. He felt as though his parents provided for him out of duty, rather than anything more meaningful. His father was rarely around, and his mother worked as an extremely successful businesswoman, and spent her days dashing from meeting to office to dinner party, spending lavishly the money she earned. From a young age, Ryou had learned that he was not the first priority in their family, not by any stretch of the imagination.

He had always been a little behind everyone else socially. He was afraid of rejection. Rejection hurt more than anything else. Not that he tried to keep up. There were too many chat sites, too many gossiping friends, too much banter... the things Ryou longed to include him. Ryou shook himself. _No use wishing for these things. Someday, they're gonna happen to you, Ryou. Just...be patient...p-please. _It was at times like these, when Ryou felt so neglected, that his unhappiness threatened to overwhelm him. All he wanted was a little bit of love. But for him, that love never seemed to come.

By the time Ryou's mother came home, he was already asleep. Little did she know, he had cried himself there.

* * *

School was a burden, and always had been for Ryou, him being shy and all. The prospect of another long day at school, being plagued by people he didn't like, and ignored by people he did was unappealing at the best of times, but being miserable and lonely just made matters worse. Ryou comforted himself by the thought that it was Friday, although it was freezing and overcast, with an icy wind that battered Ryou's frail form as he walked through Domino towards school. He was almost glad to arrive at the ugly building he spent most of his time in. "Domino High" the sign over the front office door proclaimed. _Great_, he thought. _Just great_. Then the bell rang shrilly, and he was forced to move on.

He turned around, to start walking towards his first lesson, when a chorus of squeals met his ears. _Even better_! His inner voice said, exasperatedly. From a hyper-looking gang of people, came

"Ryou! Babe, give us a smile!" Ryou gave them an uncomfortable grin. He spotted Anzu Mazaki, a tall brunette, standing at the front of the little cluster of girls. She preened. "Come here." Ryou shook his head and gestured in the general direction of his first lesson, Science. "Oh, Ryou. Don't be so cold. We want to talk to you."

_Yeah, right._ Ryou thought_. More like strip me. _Anzu blew him a kiss. "Will you go out with me?" Ryou blinked. Anzu smiled at him. She clearly thought she looked sexy. "Is that a YES?"

"Oooooooh!" chorused the girls. Anzu took a step forward. The fangirls fell silent. In fact, it seemed the whole school had gone quiet.

"I love you, Ryou." Anzu said. Ryou's stomach felt like ice. The blatant lie in Anzu's words was obvious. She was lying about loving him. It was horrible. Ryou could feel tears welling up in his eyes. The only time anyone had told him they loved him... and it as nothing but a lie, a fabrication. A taunt. Anzu kept walking, closer and closer to the prone boy.

"C'mon Ryou. Say you love me. Go on, I dare you. Then, we can go back to my place and..." Anzu smiled, letting the suggestive silence hang in the air. Ryou hated the way Anzu was using love as a joke. She couldn't imagine how her careless words were hurting him. It was so tempting to just give in and say yes, accept the love being offered, however false it may have been, but Ryou stood firm. He wanted nothing to do with this bitch. Nothing at all. All Ryou could hear was a roaring in his ears as he braced himself to answer. "No, thank you." He heard muttering from the few people still milling around. Anzu stopped, a foot away from Ryou.

"No?" Close to tears, Ryou nodded.

Anzu paused, as if calculating something. She ran her eyes up and down Ryou's body. Ryou flushed angrily under her critical gaze. Suddenly, Anzu did something no-one was expecting. She took a step forward, grabbed a handful of Ryou's silky hair, and kissed him. He froze in shock. There was a moment of stunned silence from the spectators; then a few people cheered. Some wolf whistled. Anzu stepped back, after what seemed like an eternity of torture for Ryou.

"I...I hate you, Anzu Mazaki!" Ryou said bitterly, wiping lip gloss off his face with the back of a shaking hand. "I won't go out with you."

Anzu just smiled. "What was that, babe? You think I'm unbelievably sexy? Well, thanks." The surrounding fangirls were loving it. They wolf whistled and squealed excitedly. Ryou, burning with shame, tuned and ran into the school building, to shrieks of "we love you, Ryou!"

* * *

Luckily, his first lesson wasn't with Anzu or any of her friends. That was all he could think about as he ran towards his classroom, but when he burst through the science lab door, a cold fear descended upon him.

"Mr Pegasus!" he gasped in alarm. Noticing the clock on the wall next to the whiteboard, he swallowed. 9.05. He'd completely missed morning registration, and Mr Pegasus seemed to take a great joy in dishing out punishments and verbal abuse. Consequently, he was one of Ryou's least favourite teachers.

"Mr. Bakura. What time is it?" Pegasus said icily. Twenty nine pairs of eyes turned to scrutinise him.

"Five past nine, sir."

"Are you stupid, Mr Bakura?"

"N-no, sir."

"Well then, you will know that my lesson started five minutes ago. Do you know that?"

"Yes sir."

"Well," Pegasus smirked and leaned back in his chair "I have deducted that you have deliberately been late for my lesson, seeing as you know that it started five minutes ago and there is no conceivable reason for you to have been late. So now, I will punish you." Ryou's legs turned to jelly. There was no telling what Pegasus would tell him to do. From 4 hours after school, to making him tea, to... There were many disgusting rumours about Mr Pegasus' "special detentions". Ryou had always dismissed them as foolish, but standing there on the receiving end, he felt they could be true.

"You will have detention after school today. Don't even think about skipping." Someone snickered. Ryou glanced up. The snickering person was Jounouchi. Sitting with him were Yuugi, Yami, Tristan and Serenity. They were all staring at him coldly. Ryou turned away. _What_ _do they have against me?_ He thought as went to sit next to a girl with waist length blonde hair and hollow eyes. Ryou's eyes went to her wrists, which were deformed by long pink scars. Ryou sighed. Slitting his wrists didn't sound so bad right about now.

"Now, we are going to continue our lesson. Today, we are doing dissections!" Pegasus' eyes glinted. "What is a dissection?" He asked the class.

Ryou paled slightly. _This_ _day just gets better and better._

"It's when you cut something open, sir. A living thing." Someone answered.

"You really are stupid, aren't you?" Pegasus barked "You don't cut open live animals, fool!"

The class continued to discuss dissection while Ryou stared at a patch of ceiling in the corner of the classroom. It had greenish mould growing on it. How lovely.

"Mr Bakura! What is so interesting about the ceiling?" Ryou jumped. "Stand up."

Ryou stood up, feeling self conscious with the twenty nine pairs of eyes trained on him once again. "Who will have Mr Bakura in their work group?" Ryou felt ill. He had been so distracted; he hadn't noticed people getting into groups. _I don't have a single friend in this class_ He said to himself. _I'll be working on my own, again._ Pegasus handed him a dissection knife. "Now then, go work with Yuugi's group." Jounouchi groaned audibly. Ryou's entire body was trembling. He felt like he might faint. Ryou detested anything to do with bodies. Blood, guts, detached limbs. Ryou shuddered. He didn't even like cooking with meat.

He wandered over to their table, tripping slightly on someone's bag. Pegasus was going around putting a covered tray on each table, practically skipping with glee. He loved upsetting students even more than he loved himself. Yuugi looked up at him. Yuugi's wild tricoloured hair and diminutive size made him an object of much speculation in the school. But he was popular. He was loved, he had his grandfather. Ryou was insanely jealous of him.

"Jounouchi, you take the top off!" Serenity whined. "It'll be _gross_!"

"I'll do it, Serenity." Tristan boasted. He grabbed hold of the plastic top and pulled it off. "Eww!" Serenity squealed. The smell of blood hit Ryou hard. He tried to shut his eyes, but caught a glimpse of glistening red meat and the maroon bloodstains on the white tray. He heard somebody gasp as the room span sickeningly, and Ryou fainted.

**Oh my God, poor Ryou. I'm sorry, you wont be geting your yaoi for a few chapters yet, but bear with me!**

**Please review, my darlings. Please. It will make me very happy. If I don't get any good reviews, i will try writing something else...**

**To anyone who is wondering, this is a revised version of chapter 1. It hasn't changed much, but since this story was originally a completely different plot, I felt I should get with the times and update! **

**Also, i was worried that people didn't like this chapter, as it has more traffic than all the others. Maybe it put people off reading the rest... :( **


	3. What We Do For Gold

**HI! I am infinitely sorry for the 9 month hibernation.. ^_^ THank you to anyone who reads this and to anyone who put this on story alert/faved/reviewed/generally made me feel special. **

**P.S. Sorry about Kaiba in this chapter, he is being very creepy and will be for the rest of this fic. I was thinking of changing him for pegasus but that would have been too weird and pervy. :D **

**.P.'t own YU-Gi-Oh. And this is more shonen ai than yaoi.**

**P.P.P.S Year 12= 11th Grade or 16-17yrs :D Good Old Wikipedia. **

"_I kissed a girl, and I liked it! The taste of her cherry chapstick!" The song echoed loudly in the small room, while the baseline made the floor vibrate and sent shivers up Ryou's spine. Ryou was standing in a club, all flashing strobe lights and swaying bodies. Among the crowd, he spotted people he recognised. Yuugi's star-shaped hair stood out among the crowd, whilst he recognised Serenity from her long, silky hair. There were also people he didn't know, unfamiliar faces. He caught a glimpse of wild, spiked hair and, for a split second, slanted crimson eyes staring right at him. _

_Suddenly, the walls flew away from him. He was standing on a pillar, and below him danced a sea of red flames. They seemed to sing enticingly as they crept up the pillar towards him, forming shapes. Love hearts, flowers, birds, plants. Ryou was entranced. A resounding voice from above called out "You will burn in the fire of hell!" _

"_Burn with lust..." hissed the voices from below. A vocal collage reached his ears. A collage of many songs that Ryou had heard in the past. _

"_I'm bringing sexy back, yeah...baby, push it, push it real good!...babe, pick a night to come out and play, if it's alright, what do you say?...all night long, it's just you and the crowd, doing tricks you've never seen...AND YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO FACE IT, YOU'RE ADDICTED TO LOVE!"_

_It was so unreal. Love, love, love. And then, the most vivid part of the dream so far. A man appeared, randomly sitting inches from Ryou, back turned. All Ryou could see of him was his tanned back, and wild blonde hair, tinged reddish from the feverishly dancing flames below. The man spoke so quietly Ryou had to listen hard, but the three words were seared into his memory. "Just say yes." _

Ryou woke up in the school's sickbay, in a cold sweat. He was lying on his back with a rather unpleasant view of the blotchy, dirty ceiling. _I wonder if they thought it was amusing, putting sick-coloured wallpaper in a sick room_, Ryo thought drily as he sat up. A clattering of boxes announced the arrival of the nurse, Amane. Ryou gave her an angelic smile, which was rare but beautiful thing. Out of all the adults in the school, the young disorganised nurse was Ryou's favourite, because she treated him like a real person, rather than a burden that had been foisted upon her. Ryou was always flattered that, after spending her day dealing with crying, vomiting, grouchy, germ-ridden teenagers sent from their lessons to the infirmary, she still deemed him important enough to bother with whenever he found himself in the sick room, which was often. Ryou was rather prone to injury. He wasn't particularly delicate, just unlucky. It didn't help that some people thought it amusing to trip people in the corridors and Ryou was often in his own little dream world so didn't think to avoid the outstretched leg or dodge the not-so-gentle shoulder barges that were flung around during lunch break. Amane returned his smile. _He's a strange one, _she thought_, but so sweet. _

Ryou generally felt slightly pathetic, knowing the nurses shallow kindness meant more to him than anything. She probably went home to her family, her boyfriend, whatever, and forgot he even existed, while he clung on to every kind word aimed at him like it were gold dust. When he was alone, he replayed these moments in his mind to keep him sane_._

_It's not working_... the sceptic in his mind kept telling him, _you need to get a grip!_

"Ryou? You best get back to lessons now. One more hour, and then we'll both be free, eh?" Amane winked at him.

"Oh...ok." Ryou tried to shake the image of the mysterious man from his mind. He was so...enticing. And so real. For some reason, Ryou couldn't rid himself of the notion that the man might not just be a figment of his imagination. However, he did have last period, Social Studies, to worry about.

"Erm...Ryou?" Ryou glanced up to see Amane by the door, keys in hand. He quickly moved outside the office. "Good luck, Ryou. Damn, if anyone needs it, you do." Amane said, smiling. She turned and walked away, flat shoes making no noise on the cheap carpet. Ryou took off, hoping to get to his next lesson before the register closed.

The first thing Ryou noticed as he entered the room, was the lack of noise. He stood by the door, looking around for his seat. _Great, right at the front_. Ryou began to walk across the room. Their social studies teacher, Miss Valentine, was glaring at him with unsuppressed hatred. She was a woman in her late 50's with dyed blonde hair who never wore anything that wasn't tight and aimed at women half her age. She was lax when it came to rules, but not when it came to her own opinions. She took it as a personal insult if anyone debated against her, which therefore rendered her social studies classes completely useless. As Ryou sat down he found himself thinking about how the school desperately needed some new teachers.

Miss Valentine walked up to the whiteboard. "As you know," she said, "We have been studying relationships this term. We're now moving on to talking about romantic relationships. Now, no need to laugh." She directed the latter comment at Jounouchi, who was laughing along with Tristan_. He doesn't get it,_ Ryou thought bitterly. _None of them do. This is probably the most useful thing we're ever going to learn in school, and all they can do is laugh and stare at Miss Valentine's cleavage. _

"There are lots of different types of romantic relationships. Shall we list a few?"

As the class volunteered contributions, Ryou drifted into a daydream. Suddenly, something hit him on the back of the head. He glanced and saw it was a piece of paper, screwed up.

On the back, some intelligent, witty person had scrawled "queer". He unfolded it, and noticed it was the remains of a permission slip.

Year 12* Trip to Domino Arts College 

Ryou groaned and ran his fingers through his hair. _Another day, another pointless school trip._

Little did he know, this particular trip was going to change his life.

The bell rang shrilly, jolting Ryou from his vague daydreaming. He half-smiled to himself. _End of the day! _

He shoved his book unceremoniously into his bag, jumped up from his seat and walked quickly out into the corridor. The journey from the classroom to the school gates took about five minutes. On Friday, there was always a feverish buzz in the air. The happiness of two days freedom. That "Friday feeling". That was what put the slight spring in Ryou's step as he walked alongside the metal fencing outside school towards home.

He was about halfway home from school when the first strange event took place.

A shiny black limousine rolled up alongside him. It stopped and one of its doors swung open, blocking his path. Ryou jumped slightly. A man leaned out of the open door. Ryou recognised him immediately. "Seto Kaiba." He said curiously. Kaiba was a multi millionaire, one of the richest people in Domino, influential, well known, _**rich**. _

Kaiba spoke. His voice was smooth, yet strangely scripted and almost too confident. "Ryou Bakura. I've been thinking lately. About myself. About my life. And I was thinking..." He ran one hand through his hair, sighing"...how lonely its been recently, in my huge mansion."

Ryou raised one eyebrow. _What the hell? _"And this involves me...why?" Ryou asked.

"It's a shame that I have no-one to share my riches with."

Ryou didn't like the way this conversation was going.

"I want you to come and share it with me." Kaiba finished. He gave a cocky smile, as if expecting a round of applause, or for Ryou to faint with happiness.

"Erm... I hardly know you!" Ryou said incredulously. _Seriously, this kind of thing only happens in films about the 1700's, when some poor woman marries an old man for his money..._

Kaiba smirked. "Well, think about it, my pretty." He handed Ryou a business card. It had a phone number printed on it in silver. "Goodbye Ryou. I know we'll meet again soon."

The limo drove away, leaving Ryou standing there on the pavement. "Creep." Ryou muttered. He pocketed the business card, and then jogged the rest of the way home, because it was cold and he wanted toast.

**Thnx for reading! :D Love you 3 But only if you review! ;D**


	4. Sunshine

**Hi Guys! I have to say, this is my favey favey absolute favourite chapter so far! (Not saying much, seeing as the grand total is three) but still, :D! **

**Malik is here at last, with his blonde tanned gorgeyness. Now, I am here to warn you that this is NOT going to be Angstshipping. Okay, you could say there was mild angstshipping, but there isn't any more. Okay? When i wrote the first chapter I hadn't decided what the pairings were, but now I have. **

**Now, Enjoy! (Hopefully ^_^') **

It was raining hard, and at 3 in the morning Domino was quiet in its wet haze. A solitary taxi rolled along the road. On one steamed up window, one tan finger traced a smiley face in the condensation. The owner of the finger watched the rain drenched streets of Domino flash past, orange from the street lights. Then the taxi jerked, and Malik's head turned involuntarily. He saw his sister Ishizu sitting in the seat next to him, wrapped in the arms of her boyfriend, Odion. He couldn't stop the scowl smothering his peaceful features as his sister spoke quietly to Odion and ignored him, in her own little bubble of bliss.

Malik knew it was ridiculous to take their affection for each other personally, but it was difficult not to. His sister's boyfriend made no secret of his disdain and disapproval of him, and he responded by being as annoying and difficult as possible. He crossed his legs and pulled his hands into the sleeves of his hoodie, slanted lilac eyes glaring from beneath bright blonde bangs.

After a few minutes of awkward driving, the taxi slowed outside a grubby block of flats. Malik peered out.

"Overflowing bins , check. Graffiti, check. Rats and tramps..." Malik turned around and glared at Ishizu and Odion. "...yep, check. Right, that settles it. This place is officially a dump."

"Your sister is not a tramp." Odion growled. "Don't be so bloody cheeky."

"Actually, you were the tramp. Coming and moving in with us, sponging off our money. Ishizu was a rat, sneaking around arranging surprise migrations halfway across the world without telling me!" Malik snapped. By now the awkward group were standing out in the rain, looking up at their new home.

"Let's go, Odion." Ishizu said angrily. They walked off, with Malik trailing behind them.

Malik took in every detail of their new house as they walked through the front door. It was tiny. There was a main room, two bedrooms coming straight off it, a kitchen just around the corner and a bathroom the size of a cupboard. _Great._

Malik dragged his bag towards the smallest bedroom. To his surprise, he liked it. It had one big window right above the bed, and a shelf on the wall next to the door. More than Malik had been expecting, to be honest. He'd half expected Ishizu to tell him to sleep outside, from the way she'd been acting since the start of this god-forsaken trip.

He slumped down on the bed and leaned against the window, breath misting the glass, eyes reflecting the lights of a dozen flat windows, watching the city sleep. He stayed there until he fell asleep.

The next morning, Ishizu woke up to the delightful sound of Malik yelling at the top of his voice.

"Agh! God, that's cold!" Malik jumped out of the shower in shock. "Bloody cold showers..." he muttered limply, watching goosebumps come up on his tan arms. He couldn't be bothered to wait for the water to heat up, so he pulled on his jeans and went to search the kitchen cupboards for food.

"Ishizu! Where's the food?"

"In the kitchen." Ishizu walked into the living room. Malik was sitting on the kitchen counter, applying his mascara and using the back of a spoon for a mirror. "Well, duh." He said, rolling his eyes.

"Get off the counter. And stop wearing my mascara." Ishizu snapped. She opened one of the cupboards and, lo and behold, there were some boxes of cereal.

"What's this, if it's not food?" Ishizu asked sarcastically, taking a box of muesli and raising one perfectly plucked eyebrow at Malik.

Malik shrugged and jumped down from the counter. "Didn't search that one" he said, snatching the box. As usual, Ishizu noted, Malik didn't have all his clothes on. She decided this would be a good time to tell him off.

"Malik, are you allergic to shirts?" She said to him. He was now eating muesli straight from the box, getting more on the floor than in his mouth.

"Pig." She said.

"No bowls. Saves washing up. No shirt, saves washing." He grunted. He looked up at her, mouth stretching into a grin. "If you raise your eyebrow any higher, you might lose it."

"Shut up."

It may not have seemed like it, but it was at these times that the two siblings were closest. They were fighting, sure, but at least they weren't actually angry. It was when the boyfriend came on the scene that the atmosphere became cold and awkward.

Then there was a yawn and some thudding footsteps. Odion appeared in the doorway, wearing no shirt. Malik smirked. He knew who looked better.

"Morning, Ishizu!" Odion said, ignoring Malik. "Where's the muesli?"

"Malik finished it." Ishizu said, with a hint of a smile.

"Oh, typical. Well, what am I supposed to eat, eh? Keep your little sister off my food in the future, Ishizu." He said.

Malik smiled icily. He was well used to Odion's obnoxious stabs at his feminine tendencies.

"Hey, Odion. Do you know what day it is tomorrow?" Malik asked, smiling sweetly.

Odion grunted.

"It's my seventeenth birthday."

"Really. Well, after that, maybe you can start thinking about moving out." Odion said, deadly serious. "Maybe if you're good enough, you can get a job in some shop."

"I'm going to college. Art college. And, as the man of the house, **you** should be paying my tuition fees." Malik said, knowing money was a taboo subject with the bankrupt man.

"Yeah. In your dreams, kid!"Odion was getting more and more angry. In a battle of wits, Malik would always win, but in power, Odion had the upper hand.

"I'm only five years younger than you, you big idiot. Learn your numbers." Malik said. Then he turned to Ishizu. "While you're at your dance show this afternoon, can I go out? I wanna buy cakes."

In particular, doughnuts. Doughnuts were Malik's guilty pleasure. He could just imagine their chewy, jammy, sugar coated goodness. But of course, Odion had to ruin it.

"Oh no, you don't. You're grounded! And you know what that means..." said Odion, pleased to be denying Malik his pastry treats.

"What? No!" Malik whined.

"You are coming to the dance show with us."

Ryou sat down heavily on the bus, heaving a huge sigh. They were about to drive to the other side of Domino for the trip to the dance show, and Ryou wasn't looking forward to it. The journeys to and from least of all. He was sitting next to a girl who was chattering to her friends in the seats behind her and ignoring him. He felt like a spare part, not quite a part of the class, but that was pretty normal. He put his headphones in and started listening to his IPod.

By the time they actually arrived, the dance show was about to start. His class piled into the theatre, making a ridiculous amount of noise as they did so. Ryou found himself sitting next to a short, acne-ridden boy and a complete stranger. A stranger who appeared to be completely uninterested in the show. They were wearing a grey jumper with the hood pulled up, which was all Ryou could really see in the dim lights of the theatre.

The show started and Ryou watched with interest. The dancers were good, the music was good, and the coloured lights were still dancing in Ryou's eyes as the show finished and his class clapped and whooped their approval. Ryou vaguely heard his teacher announce that they could leave or wait for their parents to pick them up. The class started to trickle out of the theatre, chattering loudly as usual. The person next to Ryou stood suddenly. Ryou shifted his legs out of the way. The person didn't acknowledge him, just walked quickly down the stairs and disappeared backstage.

Ryou sighed, and stood to leave as well, realising he was the last person left in the seats. Then he noticed a bag lying on the floor underneath the seat next to him. Being the Good Samaritan, Ryou picked the bag up. _It belongs to that person who was sitting next to me. _He realised. He sighed, but decided to go backstage to see if the person was still there somewhere.

Behind the double doors that the stranger had gone through, Ryou walked along a small untidy corridor, littered with old props and bits of costumes. He almost tripped on a mop and bucket that were propped against a door. Ryou began to feel as though he was in some kind of messy theatrical _maze, _but all of a sudden he came to what looked like a changing room. The stranger was sitting there, head in hands. Ryou stopped, thinking he should just leave the bag there and go, when the door he had swung open closed, whacking him on the back of the head as attempted to close around him.

"Ow!" Ryou cried out without thinking. The person looked up.

Ryou saw him properly for the first time. It was a him, that was obvious now. He was striking, no doubt about it. With that cinnamon tan and bright blonde hair, he was definitely unique and probably gorgeous. He was also crying. Mascara ran in dirty streaks down his cheeks and his purple eyes glowed. He sniffed. "What?" he said, in that hoarse, I've-just-been-crying voice.

Ryou flushed. Some random stranger had just witnessed his act of extreme klutziness, and he had walked in on this stranger crying. All in five seconds.

"Erm... Sorry! I just came to return your bag."

Malik glanced from the boy to the bag he was clutching limply in his right hand.

"Thanks." Malik sighed. He leaned his head on his hands and gazed blankly at the floor. The boy stood awkwardly just inside the door.

"Are you okay?" He asked, shyly. Not in the way some people would have asked, as though they had to.

"Not really."

"What happened?" _Wow, he gets to the point. _Malik thought. _I really want to tell him, whoever he is. My crappy family life needs to come out into the open at some point._

"Well, this happened." Malik pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and held it up for the boy to see.

_Malik,_

_Gone out for meal. Be back later. DON'T COME ALONG. _

_Ishizu + Odion_

The boy winced as he read the note. "Ouch. That's harsh." He said sympathetically. "Well, join the club, I suppose. I haven't exactly got a lift out of here either."

"It's not the lack of a lift home that bothers me. It's the fact that they really don't want me around. Well, I would have expected nothing better from Odion, but Ishizu..." Malik trailed off. He didn't want to admit it, but it hurt like hell knowing that his own sister wasn't even going to make an effort to include him in her life.

"So your name's Malik, right? Are you new around, I haven't seen you in school." The boy asked, in an obvious attempt to change the subject.

"Yep. Malik, the newbie, the freak, the oddball. As usual. My sister is always moving house with her dance troupe and I'm just an extra piece of baggage for her to lug around. And you are...?" Malik looked up at his companion curiously.

"Ryou. I've been living here all my life and half my class don't even know my name." Ryou said, smiling ruefully.

"Ha. What a pair, eh?"

Ryou glanced at his watch. "Four? I really need to go soon."

Malik's face fell slightly. "Do you have to go?"

Ryou was surprised by the question. It was totally alien, someone actually wanting him to be around.

"Well... it'll take me a long time to get home. It looks like it's gonna rain." Ryou's argument was feeble. He didn't even know why he was trying to get away. He should have been jumping for joy, crying with happiness, offering to stay for as long as Malik wanted because he was so desperate for a friend.

"Please? Hey, I know! You could come to my house." Malik said, eyes sparkling in his excitement. "It'll be fun, I promise! I need you to tell me where I can find out about Domino High. I'm starting there on Monday."

"I go to that school. It's the only school in this city." Ryou said, secretly thrilled that someone he was (already) vaguely friendly with would be attending.

"Really? Yay!" Malik jumped up and flung his arms around Ryou, not so secretly thrilled that he would know somebody at his new school.

Ryou was stunned at this sudden display of affection. There was nothing remotely romantic about it, but Ryou felt himself blush at the feeling of body on body, the embarrassment of being so isolated he was shocked at someone hugging him.

"S-so, I guess this means I'm coming to your house?" Ryou stuttered, slightly breathless from Malik's overzealous hug.

"Definitely." Malik laughed.

The short walk to Malik's house passed quickly, Ryou soaking up Malik's bubbly chatter like the sun; warm and bright.

"You probably think I'm a complete freak, asking you over after five minutes." Malik said, chuckling. His eyes gleamed in the sun, translucently purple. Ryou often found himself staring into those eyes as they were talking.

They came to a square, ugly block of flats. Malik started up the steps that led inside the building. Ryou followed, taking in the scenery. He wasn't familiar with this side of Domino at all.

"Here we are. Home sweet home!" Malik said brightly, but there was no hiding the undertone of bitterness in his voice.

They entered, Malik flinging open the door and throwing his bag onto the small sofa. Ryou took off his shoes, privately wondering how three people could be living in a house the size of his living room. _But then again, he's different to me. Maybe I'm just lucky. _Ryou thought.

"Want a drink?" Malik asked.

Ryou jumped. "Erm... yes please. What do you have?"

"Tea, coffee, water, orange juice..." Malik said, rattling off a list of beverages as he wandered around the kitchen.

"...Beer, vodka, wine, eggnog..."

"Eggnog?" Ryou giggled uncertainly.

"Kidding." Malik grinned at him. Ryou looked up at the calendar behind him. Someone had circled the next day in a rainbow of glittery gel pens and written 'Malik's BDay!' in huge purple letters.

"It's your birthday tomorrow?" Ryou asked

"Yes! I'm 17. I don't think I'll be having a party though. I don't know any hot boys or girls in this town." Malik turned around from the tea he'd decided to make and winked at Ryou.

"Except you, of course."

Ryou blushed. "Yeah, right."

"Silly Ryou. Look in the mirror once in a while. Not that I fancy you, of course."

Ryou tried not to be flattered, but failed miserably. He looked away, and spotted a clock.

"Seven o'clock!" He yelped. "I _really_ have to go now!"

_Where the hell did all that time go? _He thought as he leapt down from the counter he'd been sitting on and pulled on his shoes. His mother was always home at the weekends, and this would be the first time in about 7 years he hadn't been there to greet her like a little automaton, pretty and lifeless.

"Bye Malik! Sorry!" He said as he ran out the door.

"Are you coming over for my birthday tomorrow?" Malik asked, running a few paces after him.

"Sure! Definitely." Ryou said, dashing down the stairs.

It was already dark outside, and the chill of winter was just starting to settle in. Ryou's breath misted as he sprinted across the road and towards the bus station.

"Ryou!"

He stopped and turned. He could see Malik hanging out of the window of his flat.

"What?" He yelled back.

"You didn't drink your tea!" The sound of Malik's indignant wail had Ryou giggling to himself as he set of again towards home, happier than he had been in a long time.

**THanks for reading! I eat reviews, so if I don't get some I may starve. NOM NOM NOM! Anyways, Happy (Early) Xmas and/or New Year! **

**XXX love Kat**


	5. Ink

**Hi! Quickest update yet, go me! Hope you all had a great New Year and Christmas. Ate too much, as usual.**

**Anyway, back to the story. Enjoy! x**

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Ryou woke on the fourth electronic chime of his alarm clock, the image of the wild haired man fading from his eyes. It was 8.00am and still dark, the winter chill evident in the small room. Ryou was laying there under the duvet, coming back to life slowly, when all the emotions of the previous day filled him from head to toe, like he was sinking into a warm bath.

He allowed himself to grin into his pillow, relishing in the sensation of being happy for a change. He knew he was going to get a grilling from his mother because of his lateness last night, but this didn't faze him at all. All he could think about was Malik. Malik, with his permanent grin and boundless energy. A friend.

Ryou clambered out of bed, stretching, shivering when his bare skin was exposed to the cold air. Catching sight of his reflection in the mirror, he laughed quietly. His long white hair was a tangled mess after a whole night tossing and turning, caught tight in the hold of his recurring dream. As usual, he wandered into the bathroom to have his shower. Under the hot water, he always felt his most relaxed. His thoughts wandered aimlessly. He would normally spend the day drawing, painting or reading. It was a while since he'd been out at the weekend to do anything other than shopping. When his father visited once a month the family of three would go out to a restaurant or hotel for dinner, but these were occasions Ryou would rather forget. His parents would spend the evening eating ridiculously expensive dishes and discussing Ryou as though he wasn't there. But today, he would be doing something fun for a ch...

"Ryou!"

Ryou jumped. He soon realised that he had been standing there, naked and daydreaming, for about half an hour!

"Ryou! Hurry up!" His mother barked.

He got dressed quickly and rushed downstairs, tying his damp hair up as he went.

His mother sat there at the end of the dining room table, the picture of perfection. Her hair perfectly sculpted into a midnight black bob, each nail gleaming and manicured, dressed in a formal jacket and skirt. At that moment her face was one of irritation. Ryou awkwardly smoothed his shirt.

"Ryou. This is not a good start to the day. We are going to be discussing your... _tardiness_ yesterday over breakfast." She folded her arms and indicated for Ryou to sit. A solitary grapefruit half sat there on a plate. A substantial breakfast indeed. Not.

Ryou's good mood evaporated. His home was ruled by order and control. Being late to any meal was just asking for a lecture, and being late to an already- planned lecture was plain stupid. His chances of getting out today were shrinking by the minute and they had been slim to start with. If he'd been going to an art gallery or to the theatre it would have been different, but going out to see Malik? Somehow, Ryou guessed his mother would be less than pleased with that idea.

"Ryou. As you know, I have very high expectations of you. A boy of your intelligence is perfectly able to get a good, highly regarded job, a nice house and to marry a nice woman and have a family. But gallivanting off to God-knows-where for hours on end is no way to help yourself!" she said angrily.

"I was only gone for a few hours."

"Gone where, exactly?"

Ryou stared at the floor. If he told her he'd been on the other side of Domino, he'd be grounded for life. "I was...at a friend's."

"Boy or girl?"

"Boy."

His mother sighed dramatically. "Good. You're much too young for dating."

Ryou didn't bother to argue with that. He wasn't interested in dating anyway. He looked up at his mother, pleading for the lecture to be over. But it wasn't.

" What did you think you were doing, boy? Out in Domino alone!" she said despairingly.

"I'm seventeen years old! Some people live alone at this age!"

"You have no idea what you're saying. Those are poor, disadvantaged creatures with dysfunctional families. You don't know what's out there."

Ryou flinched. He would die if Malik ever heard his mother talking like this. She was a snob of the worst kind. A pitying, self righteous snob.

"Paedophiles!" she cried, suddenly standing up and slamming her bejewelled hands down on the table. "Perverts, rapists, thieves, drunks, freaks and liars! That's what's out there!"

Ryou was stunned into silence. _How can my mother be so ignorant? _

"I'm only trying to protect you, Ryou." she stood up, gesturing to a silent maid, who immediately sprang up to clear the table. Ryou scowled as his untouched grapefruit was whisked away.

"Piano practise at ten, Ryou. Don't forget. I'll be in my office." His mother said, before walking out.

But Ryou had other plans.

10.05. 

Ryou walked his fingers up and down the piano a few times. The piano was one of the few advantages of being rich. It was a grand piano, antique and always perfectly in tune. It made any pianist sound good, even Ryou, whose fingers were only good for wrapping around a pencil, it seemed. Although today, he didn't intend to do any practise.

He took his iPod from his pocket and the speakers from the other side of the room. He had recorded himself playing a few days before, and now he played this little composition from the iPod. It had enough mistakes in to make his mother believe he was there practising, rather than out 'gallivanting'. He snuck over to the door and slipped out, closing the door as quietly as possible and tiptoeing down the stairs. He met the maid on the last flight. She gave him a questioning look.

"Do me a favour, Gail." Ryou whispered. She nodded and leaned in closer.

"Don't tell Mother I'm gone. Okay?"

She nodded again.

Ryou then dashed down the last few steps and through the spotless kitchen. He was about to leave when he remembered Malik's present.

_Damn!_ He looked around for something he could take, and spotted his mothers designer handbag lying on one of the gleaming marble counters. He walked over to it, feeling an idea forming. He knew that the leather purse in the bag would be stuffed with money, and she wouldn't miss £20 if he took it.

_It's for a friend_, he told himself, as he prised open the silver clasp and pulled out a note. _Sorry, Mum. _

Then he grabbed his coat and was out the door, knowing he was disappointing his parents again.

It was midday by the time he arrived at Malik's house. For a while he was scared he'd forgotten the address, but the flats were easy enough to find. Once inside, he felt his happy bubble swelling again. Knowing Malik was only a few metres away only served to enhance his glee. He bounded up to the door he remembered as the right one -21B- and knocked.

And waited.

After a few minutes out in the corridor, Ryou began to wonder what was going on. After all, he barely knew Malik.

_He could be out. We didn't exactly agree a time to meet. _

_He could be in there with his girlfriend... or boyfriend...or something. _

Ryou banged on the door again. He leaned his ear against the door to try and hear if anyone was in there, when...

"I'm here, already! Wha-! Ryou!" Malik yelped. Ryou was now sprawled on the floor, having been leaning on the door when Malik opened it.

"What are you doing?" Malik asked bemusedly

Ryou shook his head, embarrassed. "Don't worry."

Malik beamed "I won't! Sorry about the wait, I was in the shower. The hot water came on, at last. I thought you were Anubis, so I decided he could wait. If I'd known it was you..." The pair made their way across the living room. Malik had obviously just gotten out of the shower, because his wet hair was leaving a trail of drips across the carpet. He turned to Ryou, smiled and hugged him.

"Erm...happy birthday!" Ryou said, suppressing a laugh. Malik was so random.

"I didn't think you were coming!" Malik said, letting go of him.

"I had to walk all the way over here."

Malik looked shocked. "You walked? But you must have a car."

"My parents don't exactly know I'm here... Overprotective, you see."

Malik nodded glumly. "I'm not exactly educated company, am I?"

"I'd rather spend time with you than any of the snobs my mother would have me know." Ryou said vehemently. He hated his mother for making Malik upset, however indirectly.

"Anyway," Ryou said brightly. "What do you want for your birthday?"

"I want..." Malik paused, thinking.

"Yes?"

"Well... I want my belly pierced."

Ryou blinked. "What?"

"Don't you think it's boring?" Malik indicated his bare stomach.

"Erm...no?" Ryou blushed furiously.

"Well, I do." Malik said. "I need accessories, else I may perish!" he said theatrically, pretending to swoon on the faded couch.

"Consider it done." Ryou said, trying not to laugh at Malik, who had "passed out" and was now muttering about earrings.

Malik sat up suddenly, his hair flinging a trail of water across his jeans. "What?" he asked incredulously.

"I'm serious. Your birthday present from me."

Malik shook his head vigorously. "I can't let you do that. I mean, you barely know me! Plus I won't be able to pay you back."

"That's what presents are. Free. And anyway, you can pay me back."

"How?" Malik said, raising one eyebrow in a way that was uncannily like his sister.

"By being my friend."

"Let's not go there again." Malik said, laughing. "But okay. You've convinced me."

And that was how Ryou found himself standing outside a tattoo parlour. It was a rambling building wedged in between some old terraced houses.

"Are you sure about this?" Ryou asked nervously. He was seriously regretting trying to pressure Malik into this. It definitely wasn't the type of shop he would normally be going into.

"Oh, come on! Don't get my hopes up and then chicken out, honey. Please?" Malik was practically bouncing up and down with excitement.

Ryou stared up at the building. It was so old it seemed to be leaning on the houses alongside it, and looked as though a particularly hefty client would have it teetering and shaking with every step.

"Come on!" Malik was at the top of the steps leading to its front door. Ryou sighed and braced himself for whatever was inside.

It was nothing like he'd expected. It seemed pretty normal. There were many intricate tattoo designs on the walls, and Ryou couldn't help but admire the artistic skill that must have gone into them. Malik, however, was much more of a "do first, ask questions later" sort of person. He'd chosen his piercing within 20 seconds, and afterwards all but skipped over to the desk in the corner, where someone appeared to be sleeping, head down amongst all the scraps of paper, broken pencils and half empty mugs.

"Excuse me?" Malik said leaning down and tapping the guys tan arm.

"Wha..." The person grunted and sat up. Ryou stared. This person looked alarmingly like the man from his dream. In fact, they could have been twins. The same wildly spiky blonde hair and dark tan. This person seemed to be waking up as the minutes passed. He yawned widely and stretched like a cat.

"Sorry. Late night, if you know what I mean." He slumped back in his chair, eyeing both Malik and Ryou and running a hand through his platinum bangs.

"So," he said, adopting a more businesslike manner "What can I do for you?"

"Can I get my belly done?" Malik asked, eyes shining.

"Sure thing. If you have the money." The man said, holding out a hand.

Malik handed over the money Ryou had given him, mouthing "thank you". Ryou shook his head, smiling.

"Oh. So you're the money behind this little operation? Defying the parents, are you?" the man asked Ryou, smiling slyly.

Ryou was surprised that such an idle looking person could read the both of them like an open book. There was clearly more to him than Ryou had first thought.

The man turned to Malik. "You can go in now. Akefia's waiting."

Malik grinned excitedly. "Wish me luck!" he said to Ryou, before turning and vanishing through a door next to the desk.

Silence descended upon the waiting room. Ryou wandered over to look at some of the earrings on display. They were all pretty, sparkling in the winter sun, but Ryou's fear of blood made them lose some of their appeal.

Still he found himself saying "Do you think I should get one?" to the man behind the desk.

"No."

Ryou was surprised. "Why not?"

The man smiled wryly. "They're addictive." He turned his head, and Ryou saw that one of his ears had been pierced all along its edge. Ryou found himself counting the jewels.

"Eight?" Ryou asked. "That's a lot of needles." Ryou shuddered at the very thought of having eight pieces of metal stapled in his ear.

"You don't want to spoil that pretty face of yours."

"You can't talk. I'm not the only one here with a pretty face." Ryou said boldly.

He then paused, shocked at himself. Although there was no denying that the man was gorgeous. His eyes were a dark, dark violet, indigo in some lights. They were heavily lidded and slightly sunken, which seemed to increase his beauty rather than detract from it. He had a wide mouth and harsh jaw line and what Ryou could see of his body was muscular but at the same time, he was slender, like a runner. There was a hint of detachment in his face, like the feeling you get from looking at someone who isn't quite there, someone who isn't on the same wavelength. Until a few days before, Ryou knew he would have emanated the very same aura. But still, Ryou was beginning to regret saying anything at all.

The most beautiful people were often the most dangerous.

"I'm Marik. Who are you?" The man said suddenly, looking intently at Ryou. Ryou felt the hairs stand up on the back of his neck. This wasn't just a dreamer sitting here. This was something more.

"I'm Ryou...um...nice to meet you!" Ryou said, taking a slight step back.

"Ryou...nice name." Marik said, leaning back on his hand, his lazy smile returning.

Ryou smiled warily, knowing something wasn't quite right.

And judging by his rapidly beating heart, all his instincts agreed with him.

Unless, of course, that wasn't from fear, but something more meaningful.

Ryou didn't like that particular idea.

Malik stood in the back room. It was pleasantly warm, unlike the cold waiting room. He glanced around, trying to find 'Akefia'.

"Afternoon." Said a deep, velvety voice from the stairs in the corner of the room. Standing on these stairs was a tall, muscled figure. Malik stared.

"So you want to get a piercing? Bad choice. They're addictive, you know. Just take a look at Marik and you'll see what I mean." Akefia walked around the room, gesturing to chair that looked uncomfortably like a dentists. But Malik couldn't think about this. All he could think about was Akefia. He shuffled over to the seat and sat down, eyes still trained on Akefia.

"So, what piercing did you choose?" Akefia asked.

Malik opened his hand to reveal what looked like an amethyst.

"Nice. Matches your eyes." Akefia said, smiling. Malik swore his heart stopped at that.

Akefia was gorgeous. Unfeasibly, unreasonably, and unfairly stunning. He had men and women alike staring at him in awe wherever he went, and Malik was trapped like a butterfly in a spiders web. The more he tried to get free, the more entwined he became.

He didn't even feel it when Akefia stapled the amethyst into his navel. He was hooked on Akefia's every word, his every movement.

He'd fallen head over heels.

"Hey, Malik. Wanna come over on Monday night? We could call it a date." Akefia asked, after he'd told Malik he couldn't change the jewel for 6 weeks.

Malik's jaw dropped. "What?"

Akefia smiled. "You're cute. And you're of age. What's to stop you having a bit of fun?" He didn't sound remotely sleazy as he said this, just extremely tempting. His voice was like treacle, Malik noted. Smooth and entirely irresistible.

Malik felt all the blood rush to his head. He was going to have trouble getting out of the chair after all this.

He knew he wasn't going to turn down an offer like that.

**Ooooh! Well, please review. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far, especially Elle-L who's reviewed TWICE! XXX Kal277**

**Next chappy coming soon. Not sure how it's going to turn out. :/ **


	6. Scarlet Boudoir

**Hello, readers! I'm so glad you came back for the fifth chapter... It is much longer than the others. ****Warning: Contains PASSIONATE SCENES! And Pegasus... But not together! Oh no. **

For the first time in years, Malik was up before his alarm. He leapt out of bed, grabbing articles of clothing as he went, bouncing on his bare feet. He hopped around on one leg, trying to pull on his skinny jeans with one hand, searching through an open drawer with the other, bouncing in time to some song in his head, humming along, a picture of disorganised teen.

He skipped into the living room, holding his mascara between his teeth and unravelling his socks and did a few high kicks behind the sofa for good measure. Dancing his way into the kitchen, he grabbed a bagel from the cupboard above his head. He'd just finished eating when he heard a series of heavy footsteps behind him.

_Three, two, one._

"What are you up to?"

Malik stood there, back to Odion, feeling a surge of rebellious spirit swelling inside him. He turned slowly on his heel, a smile creeping its way onto his face. He turned his eye to Odion, staring at him from behind strands of unkempt blonde hair. He thought of Akefia. He struggled not to laugh, but instead kept his smile plastered on his face.

"He had it coming." Malik sang quietly. He took a slow, seductive step towards Odion, watching the man's expression of confusion and disbelief with amusement.

"He had it coming. He had it coming all along. If you had been there, if you had seen it, how could you say that I was wrong?"

And with that, Malik left. Odion suddenly grasped what he'd been trying to say.

"Ishizu!"

Malik heard the enraged cry from halfway down the road. He smiled, knowing he'd won this little battle.

* * *

Ryou was late. He had always known that one day, his little detours through the back alleys would actually affect him, but he hadn't expected today of all days to be the one when Time decided to mess him around. He was two minutes from school, when he ran into the very thing he had been trying to avoid. Ushio. Another name on the long list of people who counted bullying Ryou among their very highest priorities.

Since he'd first arrived at the school, Ushio had singled him out as a weakling. Something he could manipulate. He wasn't nearly as clever as Anzu, but just as terrifying.

He stood there with a group of hulking cronies, leering, like Neanderthals surrounding some kind of prehistoric kitten. Ryou swallowed nervously as he neared them, feeling the blood rush to his head, fear flooding his body.

"Eh, pretty boy! Come over here." One of them yelled. The whole group cackled. Amongst the fog of cigarette smoke Ryou could vaguely make out Ushio's face, uglier and crueller than the rest of them. Most likely, they were just as scared of Ushio as Ryou was. Still, right now the last thing Ryou wanted was an encounter with any one of their fists.

He rapidly slowing walk drew him level with them. Ryou felt hope flutter in his stomach at the gap between them and the alley wall. Maybe they'd let him escape without a beating, just for today. But that hope was extinguished as Ushio stepped between the chink of light and Ryou's frail form. His hand shot out and his fat fingers entangled themselves in the front of Ryou's shirt. Ryou braced himself for the coming punch.

"Hey! Excuse me...Ryou? Hey there, sweetheart!"

From between two of the hulking teens burst Malik. Malik's eyes drifted from person to person. Evaluating. Calculating. Sizing up his opponent. Ryou noted that Malik certainly wasn't small. He could look every member of Ushio's gang straight in the eye, and there had been no lack of muscle on his stomach when they had met at the weekend. Even in Ushio's chokehold, he felt himself flush at the memory.

He smiled bemusedly. "Am I interrupting anything?" He glanced up to Ushio, who had Ryou held up by his clothes.

"Ryou! You never told me you had a boyfriend. Or a whole harem, by the looks of it." Malik smiled saucily and placed a hand on his hip, surveying the entire group. He was wearing a white tank top, skinny red jeans and a cropped denim jacket; evidently, he hadn't read the school rules: No provocative clothing.

"You know what? I've changed my mind. We can deal with this queer first." Ushio dropped Ryou, who fell to the floor in shock, and turned to glare at Malik, his mean little eyes dark with anger. No- one made fun of Ushio. Not if they wanted to make it to school in one piece.

"Let me introduce you to..." Ushio swung his fist back; aiming straight for Malik's perfectly made up face. He was going to enjoy knocking this fag around.

"...My fist!" He threw a viciously hard punch, and certainly did not expect retaliation. But Malik was fast. Before anyone could blink, Ushio was pinned against the wall, his fist being subtly crushed in Malik's tan hand.

"No, no! It's ladies first, isn't it?" Malik said, smiling sweetly. Everyone there stared, including Ryou. He'd known Malik was good, but not this good!

_He's a bloody angel!_

"My name's Malik, and if you want to know more, find me." Malik winked at Ushio, and kissed him on both cheeks, letting go of his fist, bangles jangling, eyes sparkling. He leaned down, dragging Ryou to his feet. Ushio was frozen in shock.

"Come on Ryou. We're gonna be late. Crap, we're already late!" He gave Ryou a gentle push in the direction of school, before turning around for one final insult.

"For God's sake, give me that." He snatched a cigarette from the nearest hand, inspected it, grimaced and threw it to the ground.

"At least learn to make them properly before you start selling." Malik said disgustedly, grinding the pathetic thing under the heel of his knee high black boots.

As he stormed off, blonde hair swirling in the wind, Ushio's gang watched him in amazement. Malik was tough. He knew it. And he wasn't afraid to show it.

* * *

Malik sighed with relief, fixed his hair and jogged to catch up with Ryou.

"Are you alright?" he asked, as they entered the school grounds. Ryou kept his head down, eyes hidden behind a curtain of white bangs.

"Oh, God, I'm so embarrassed. You shouldn't have had to see that." Ryou sounded almost tearful. "I'm sorry. Now if you get bullied it's all my fault."

"Don't give me that crap, Ryou. Look at me. Do you really think the bullies in this school would miss me?" Malik scowled. It was painful to see Ryou upset. He was just one of those people who needed to be protected.

Ryou looked up, biting his lip. "Sorry..." he started to say.

"If you apologise one more time, I'll be the one starting on you. Okay?"

Ryou giggled weakly. "Yes, sir."

"Excuse me? What on earth do you think you are doing? Loitering in the school grounds?" The patronising voice could only have belonged to one person.

Ryou groaned under his breath. Mr Pegasus was the last thing he needed right now.

"Ryou Bakura. A troublemaker, if ever met one. As far as I recall, you had a detention with me on Friday. I will greatly enjoy seeing you in my classroom tonight, seeing as you conveniently forgot about it. I will also be kind enough to treat you to a surprise quiz. If you don't get full marks, you'll have detentions every day this week. As for you..." Mr Pegasus looked a Malik as one might look at a particularly filthy dog. "...What are you doing here?"

"I'm a new student. This boy was just showing me to the office." Malik said coldly. Ryou had never heard Malik speak in such icy tones. Obviously, something about Pegasus had really hit a nerve.

"Well, off you go then. And don't let me catch you hanging around again!"

"Yes sir." Ryou said. He took Malik's arm and dragged him away. Something in Malik's eyes had told him that that could have gotten out of control. Even as they were standing in the school reception, Malik had a dark look in his face.

"Malik, what's up? He's always like that, don't worry..."

"I hate adults who pick on kids." Malik spat vehemently. "It's... it's... it's just pathetic!" He said furiously.

Ryou regarded his friend with concern. There was clearly more to this than an unfair teacher, but Ryou had never been one to probe, so he just left it. Malik could come clean when he felt like it; if ever.

"Well, shall we go and sign you in? Hopefully you'll be in all my classes!" Ryou said, smiling encouragingly.

Malik sighed. _Hopefully..._

The day passed quickly. They were indeed in all the same classes, and seeing as Ryou was often left sitting by himself, Malik was quick to claim the empty seat next to him.

It was last period, and the weather had turned bitterly cold. It was Maths, a subject which Malik clearly couldn't get his head around, and which therefore involved a lot of muttered curses and pencil biting. Ryou's seat was right next to the radiator, so he could keep his feet warm while the rest of the class froze. It was his little bit of just revenge for the fact that they ignored him. However, the seat did have its bad points.

"Hey, Ryou." Anzu turned around from the seat in front of him, flicking her hair in a flirtatious manner.

"Are you two, like, going out?" she smirked

"No, of course not!" Ryou gasped, flushing. He always got flustered when talk turned to 'relationships', especially since he'd been asked the same question about ten times that day by various different students and even a teacher.

"I wouldn't mind." Said Malik, glancing over at Ryou with a wink, "But I am otherwise engaged."

"Really? Well, I'm not even going to ask whether it's with a boy or a girl." Anzu said, rolling her eyes. She turned around huffily.

After a moment's thought, Malik said "I think she fancies me."

"You don't say! Just about everyone does." Ryou laughed.

"Seriously?"

"I remember when you told me to take a look at myself. You clearly haven't been practising what you preach."

"Oh Ryou, where would I be without you?"

Something Malik had said suddenly clicked.

"Otherwise engaged?" Ryou asked incredulously.

Malik burst out laughing. "And I thought I was slow!"

"Shush at the back!" The teacher hissed. Malik attempted to stifle his giggles.

"Were you being serious?" Ryou whispered curiously.

"Yes. Well, I'm obviously not 'engaged', but I am taken. As of yesterday."

"Yesterday? But you spent all day with me."

"Not quite. While you chatted up the lovely boy behind the desk in the tattoo parlour, Akefia was all over me."

Ryou blushed, "I did not chat him up."

"You so did. Anyway, that conversation can wait till later. Schools nearly out, and I'm going to Akefia's after."

Ryou was suddenly hit with a few disturbing thoughts, mostly involving Malik tied up or being thrown into the back of a van. It must have shown through on his face.

"Don't look so horrified, Ryou. I won't let him jump me."

"Good."

"I will be doing the jumping."

"Malik!"

"Only kidding. But if I'm late for school tomorrow... It'll be because I couldn't find my clothes."

"You are so horny."

"Yes. Yes, I am."

Ryou burst into a silent laughing fit, which he attempted to hide from their teacher by ducking down behind his hair.

Malik smiled to himself. It seemed like his luck was finally changing.

Then the school bell rang shrilly, filling his ears with the sound of freedom, and perfectly matching his thoughts.

The entire class descended into chaos.

"Hey... class! The bell is for me, not you..." The teacher cried in vain.

No one listened, of course. Ryou began packing up his things, ruler, pencils, books and papers. Malik tapped him on the shoulder.

"I should really go now. It'll take me a while to get to Akefia's." He was pulling the sleeves of his denim jacket the right way out. The pair wandered out into the corridor.

Ryou smiled slightly. "You know what I said earlier, about not checking him out?"

Malik smiled back in a knowing way, "Yes?"

"I was lying. I was checking him out. And now I think about it, it was probably painfully obvious."

"You never fail to surprise me, Ryou Bakura. I'll bet you can be quite the minx when you want to be!" Malik said, almost admiringly. "But more importantly, will you be alright on the way home? Ushio won't give you hassle, will he?"

"No. After school they go and knock over bins. Anyway, I have a detention with Mr Pegasus."

"Pah! Pathetic. Well, if that's the case, I'll see you round! "

Malik turned and left, leaving Ryou standing in the corridor, faced with the prospect of an hour with Pegasus.

_Well, this is going to be a laugh!_

* * *

Malik arrived at the tattoo parlour at about five o'clock. The wind was bitter and fallen leaves were being whipped up in miniature tornados every few streets. Malik stood on the front steps, threw his coat on the floor and stripped off his denim jacket and shirt, to replace them with a tight black tank top with a bunch of diamante cherries on the front. He pulled a decorative black belt from his rucksack and shoved his old clothes back into it, jogging up the steps and inside out of the cold.

The usual guy was sitting behind the desk, talking on his phone.

"Piss off, I already told you. There are other people I like more than you...Oh, so now you want examples? Seriously, go irritate someone else before I get really annoyed. Yeah, that's right, get all stroppy on me. Fine, I won't call you back. Screw you, I've seen better." He slammed the phone down and jerked the plug out of its socket. He then glowered up at Malik.

"Oh, so you're the reason Akefia's shutting up early? He's so frigging disorganised." Marik's eyes drifted down to Malik's bare stomach. "Hmm. You might want to take that off."

Malik glanced down and saw that the plaster was still there over the piercing. He peeled it off, revealing the glittering jewel that glowed against his tan skin. "Thanks."

He screwed the plaster up and wandered across to the bin next to the desk. As he tossed it in, his low slung backpack knocked some papers to the ground.

"Oops, sorry about that! I'll just get those..."

"Nah, don't bother yourself. Clear off and screw Akefia. He's been getting really grouchy recently." Marik said brusquely, standing up.

"I'm not a hooker, you know."

"I know. But that's what you're here for, right?" Marik said, playing absentmindedly with his hair. It wasn't a question.

Malik frowned and started to walk away.

"It wasn't an insult. In fact, you have to be pretty damn good to tempt Akefia, so you should really be flattered."

Malik stopped in the doorway leading to the 'tattooing room'. He turned to Marik and smiled.

"Well, then, thanks."

Marik raised both eyebrows suggestively. "I won't hang around. This building isn't exactly stable, especially the top floor."

And with that, he clambered over his desk and left, throwing a set of keys up and down in his hand. As he left he locked the door.

* * *

Malik turned and started to make his way up the steps. He'd never been one to feel apprehension, and today was no exception. He bounded up the stairs without hesitation. At the top, there was a tiny landing and one door. Malik reached out and twisted the handle, which jammed and clattered.

"How bloody old is this place?" Malik muttered, fighting to jerk the doorknob into submission. Eventually, he decided to barge the door open with his shoulder. It burst open with a loud banging noise, and Malik stumbled into a quite amazing room.

It was like stepping back in time. The four poster bed in the corner was draped in a crimson sheet, the room was full of old chests and random pieces of mismatching furniture. Sitting in a tall living chair was Akefia, who looked perfectly at home in the strange jumbled mess of an apartment, which looked more suited to be the boudoir of some twenties prostitute than the bedroom of a promiscuous twenty year old tattooist. Akefia smiled.

"You should have more respect. That door is old enough to be your Great Grandfather."

Malik smiled back delightedly. It was easy to forget how stunning Akefia was when you didn't see him for a while; a while being one day. Then he thought of something.

_If I throw myself at him, he'll control me. I need to show him I'm no pushover. However much I may want to, I will not give in to his disarming good looks._

Malik walked over to Akefia, swinging his hips slightly, and sank elegantly into the chair next to him.

"Do you drink?"

Malik considered it. "Rarely. But, if you're offering..."

Akefia smirked, and dragged a bottle of wine swiftly across the little table towards him. Malik watched the scarlet liquid pour almost hypnotically into the two glasses, tumbling downwards and then splashing and bubbling into the bowl. He took his glass and sipped some of the contents. The wine was bitter, but warm, far from the foul tasting substance he remembered. Then he spotted something which surprised him more than the taste of the wine.

"Is that a record player?" Malik said, staring wide eyed at the strange contraption.

"Yeah. Genuine twenties thing."

"No way! Does it work?"

"I'm not running a museum here, Malik. Everything has a practical use."

"So it does work!" Malik leapt up out of his seat, fascinated by the machine. There was a stack of records piled up next to it, which Malik immediately began rifling through after placing his wine glass on a chest at the end of the four poster bed.

"Oh, wow...What? This is a dream come true! You have "All That Jazz" on record!" Malik's voice rose until he was practically squealing with excitement.

"Don't have a fit. It's only a bloody record player."

"Sacrilege..." Malik sighed wistfully. He pulled the record out of its jacket and placed it almost tenderly on the player, pulling the needle down until it just touched the record.

The music soon filled the room, and Malik moved in time to it. Akefia watched him from his chair, distracted by the way his belt bounced upon his bony hips as he half danced across the room.

"Hmm. What's in here?" Malik had discovered yet another chest. He slipped his fingers under the wooden lid, and then stopped himself. He didn't particularly want to come across a secret stash of bondage chains or pin up shots.

"Can I look?"

Akefia rolled his eyes. "Knock yourself out."

"Yay!" Malik shoved the lid open. Akefia closed his eyes, listening to the music.

"No! How much cool stuff are you hiding in this apartment? It's like... Aladdin's cave!" Malik had opened what appeared to be a dressing up box. Shoving aside piles of chiffon and lace, Malik plunged his hands in and extracted a bright red feather boa and a black bowler hat. He immediately donned his new accessories and stood up, posing. The feathers stood out lividly against his dark caramel skin.

"Do you have some drag tendencies you haven't told me about?" Malik said, tilting the bowler hat until it was sexily angled above his exotic features. He danced across the room in time to the saxophone and wild piano, perfectly in time.

"Watch this. I've been working on it for a while."

Malik smiled sexily. "_Come on babe, why don't we paint the town? And all that jazz?_" He walked forwards, beckoning in a come-hither way. He jumped up onto the four poster bed, which sank beneath his feet, the bedsprings creaking and jangling, and clung to the bedpost in a style of a pole dancer.

"_It's just a noisy hall where there's a nightly brawl, and all.._"

Kick.

"_...That..."_

Kick.

"_Jazz..."_ Malik leaned backwards, one leg wrapped around the wooden post, arms drooping languidly towards the floor, stomach bared, eyes trained on Akefia. He straightened up and retrieved his wine glass from the nearest chest. He raised it to Akefia, and drained it in one smooth motion, before replacing it and leaning against the bedpost.

"May I have this dance, Mr Ishtar?" Akefia asked, raising one eyebrow suggestively and standing up.

"I suppose so." Malik grinned. Akefia bounded across the room and picked Malik up by wrapping both arms aroud his legs.

"That's just abnormal. I'm not that small." Malik complained as Akefia carried him a few steps. "Stop carrying me."

Akefia loosened his grip on Malik's thighs until he dropped to the floor, stumbling a bit.

"Drunk already?" Akefia teased. Malik fixed his hat and smiled.

"I think you have it backwards. You must be drunk, to go around molesting innocent bystanders."

"Innocent?" Akefia purred, resting his hands on Malik's waist. "I don't think so. You're set in your decidedly non-innocent ways."

"On the contrary, I am very... flexible." Malik relaxed and leaned back, bending over backwards into an almost painful looking position.

"You said I was abnormal. You're a freak." Akefia dug a finger into Malik's exposed ribs. He gasped and jerked back into a standing position.

"Don't tickle me, Akefia." Malik giggled, failing in his half hearted effort to be stern. Akefia pulled him closer. Malik did nothing to resist.

"And I'm not a freak." Malik said, tilting his head back so he could look into Akefia's eyes, which were normally partly hidden by his wild hair.

"You are..." Their faces were inches apart. Malik felt his breath hitch. "...I like it." Akefia kissed him, holding the hat to his head with one hand.

Malik, gorgeous though the kiss was, wasn't going to give in. "I thought I was in charge." He breathed, pulling Akefia's head down to meet his own, clinging to his neck. This was more than just making out. This was a battle for power.

Akefia turned them both and started forcing Malik back towards the bed.

"You have such a height advantage." Malik said. He felt his knees give out when he eventually backed into the bed frame. He fell back onto the mattress, and Akefia fell on top of him. The bed groaned in protest.

"You weren't supposed to fall over. But I suppose you are a midget." Akefia straightened up and sat on Malik's hips, pinning him to the bed. Malik looked almost unbearably sexy, piercing lavender eyes misted, hair tousled and a rare pink flush colouring his tan face.

"Ah! Y..you're squashing me..." Malik squirmed, embarrassed. _What happened to not giving in?_

"Don't pretend you don't like it. Besides, if I got up, you might run away." Akefia took one end of Malik's feather boa in each hand and leaned down to kiss him again. Malik accepted the kiss greedily, returning it with as much force as he could from his awkward position. Akefia pulled him into a sitting position and as their kiss continued, Malik started to forget what he was doing. He had no inhibitions. He heard Akefia chuckle as he dug his nails into the back of his neck.

"Control yourself, Malik, dear."

"No."

Akefia grinned threateningly. "You asked for it." He took Malik's face in his hands and kissed him roughly. Malik gasped, shocked and loving it. Akefia tipped him backwards, Malik's head hitting the bed centimetres from the battered headboard, suggestively playing with his belt. Malik shivered as Akefia's fingers briefly touched his bare stomach, as Akefia gently bit his exposed neck.

"No fair!" He gasped, eyes wide.

Akefia pulled his belt off, the gentle clinking sound significant in Malik's ears. He started undoing one of the three buttons on the front of Malik's red jeans.

"Give in." Akefia murmured, slipping his thumb underneath Malik's top, watching Malik's face.

"No."

Akefia undid the second button. He slid his other hand down to Malik's ribs, running his fingers down them almost reverently.

"Feel that? Don't tell me you didn't, because I can feel _that_." Malik let out a shuddering breath, feeling his blush darken.

"Akefia..."

Akefia tugged the fabric of the jeans, exposing a strip of black underwear. Malik twisted under Akefia's hands.

"Say it."

Malik closed his eyes, feeling all his willpower slip away.

"Ak..."

Akefia leaned in closer, having finished messing with Malik's clothes.

"Yes?" Akefia breathed, feeling the anticipation.

"Yes."

Malik smiled, knowing he had lost this little battle.

**Hopefully that was good enough to justify the long wait... ;D **

**I'm sure that you'll all be craving a healthy dose of Ryou after reading this, but don't worry! The next chapter has him.**

**Sooo... All other authors will agree, reviews are so tasty! PLease be nice to a starving author... If you want more fun for Malik... and maybe even some for Ryou! *hint hint* **


	7. Moonlight

**Welcome! This is shorter, but hopefully not too short. **

**Enjoy! And I have ideas for other fics, so maybe be on the lookout... If you guys have any ideas, I'd be happy to hear them! **

**Thank you!**

Ryou woke up in a cold sweat. The dream had finally left him, shuddering and gasping, but awake. He struggled to calm his racing heart, and was concerned at the strange euphoric feelings flooding his body.

_Ryou, you need to calm down._

He struggled out of bed, feeling slightly drunk, and found himself gathering up a notebook and pencil from his desk. His mother didn't know it, but Ryou was a nocturnal creature. He was often up and about Domino when everyone else was asleep and oblivious to the strange moonlit world outside. A world which Ryou felt had to be captured on paper. In particular, the moon itself. Ryou had a strange fascination with the glowing orb; it hung in the sky every night, lighting a world which should be dark. This was his guilty pleasure.

The dreams just left him more desperate than usual to escape the claustrophobic house. He knew he had no hope of getting back to sleep, so he concentrated on slipping downstairs without anyone hearing him. He vaguely remembered it being icy out, so he put on a pair of heavy walking boots. He was in a daze, half sleep walking, hence only a fraction of his usual caution being displayed.

Time seemed to move much slower. Ryou stumbled across roads and through empty, silent streets, looking as lost as he felt.

_What does it mean? _

_Is the guy in my dream really the person I met in the tattoo shop?_

_Was the person in the tattoo shop just some twisted figment of my imagination?_

Ryou metaphorically shook his head. He wasn't that delusional.

It was not until he was halfway across Domino that reality hit him. As he felt an enormous shiver rippling through him at the extreme cold, he woke up. His hands were numb, his eyes felt heavy. He started to quicken his pace when the moon appeared from between two dark clouds. Ryou froze, eyes inexplicably drawn to it, dark irises reflecting a sliver of its silver glow. He could see it, down on paper. The city skyscape, the full moon lighting it up, the stars like teeny tiny pinpricks in a midnight sheet.

"God." Ryou breathed. He needed to get somewhere he could see it. He turned, looking for a likely place. It needed to be higher, of course. At the moment all Ryou could see was a row of terraced houses. A very familiar row of houses. Ryou felt his stomach drop. If he was where he thought he was...

Ryou turned back. And that was when it happened.

The freezing weather had turned the pavement into a sheet of black ice; a death trap for a klutz like Ryou. He felt his foot slide to the side and twist painfully, and the inevitable fall came a half second later. He fell hard onto his left wrist.

His yell of agony echoed across the street. Ryou heard himself over and over.

A sharp pain jolted up his arm as he clutched it to his chest. Lying there, dizzy and bewildered, he realised quite how asleep he'd been.

He sat up awkwardly, swallowed hard and tried to think.

_I can't get up, I can't move. What the hell do I do? _

Ryou shivered. He was wearing nothing but his thin pyjamas and the cold was starting to settle in him, finding its way deep into his bones and numbing him slowly, bringing goosebumps up on his arms and sending his teeth chattering. He'd heard of people getting hypothermia, but he'd never expected to be one of them. He tried his ankle once more, but recoiled with a whimper of pain. He could feel the tears of frustration starting in his eyes, and vaguely considered whether they would freeze to his face, as a cruel little reminder of his anger.

He wasn't sure quite how long he lay there. Every now and then there would be the sound of a distant engine, and Ryou would feel hope fluttering in his chest, but it inevitably turned into nothing. He could feel himself getting colder by the second; never had one of his night-time strolls gone so horribly wrong.

_But then again, I hadn't had the dream back then... _

Suddenly, there was a blaze of headlights, painfully bright to Ryou. Ryou turned away from the blinding light as the car turned and he heard the roar of its engine die away. It rolled up right next to where he lay crumpled on the pavement, and Ryou tensed.

It could be some nice person, just thinking to help me...But on the other hand... Ryou tried not to think about that, instead examining his wrist.

"Hey. Long time no see, little Ryou."

Ryou turned in surprise, the remnant smudges of the cars headlights blocking his vision. Leaning from the cab of a battered looking truck was Marik – his dream man's doppelganger, eyes glinting in the moonlight. Marik looked suitably confused at seeing Ryou lying in the street in the middle of the night.

"What are you doing?" He asked, sounding both amused and concerned.

Ryou was torn between crying with relief and dying of embarassment. This came high on the list of his most humiliating moments. At least it was dark, so Marik couldn't see his cheeks darkening to the colour of a beetroot. Still, better embarassed than frozen.

"Erm... I...sort of f-fell over and t-twisted my ankle... you d-don't think you c-could help me...?"

"No. I'll just leave you here and come defrost you in the morning."

"I...b-but.."

Marik rolled his indigo eyes and kicked open the door of his truck. Ryou followed his heavy boots on their path round the front of the vehicle, as they crunched their way through the shattered ice on the tarmac. Marik crouched down behind him, and Ryou craned his neck to see just what he was doing. He was gathering up the forgotten sketchbook and pencils that had been scattered when Ryou fell.

"You're an artist..." Marik mused, flicking through the pages of the book with interest. He paused on a sketch Ryou had done a few days before. It was of an apple with a bite taken out of it, round, gleaming and almost inexplicably sexual.

"Gorgeous... anyway." Marik stood up and turned to Ryou, who was watching him nervously, his face having finally returned to its usual ghostly colour.

"Back to the situation at hand."

Marik leaned down, and before Ryou could protest, had grabbed him unceremoniously around the waist and lifted him under his arm.

"Ah!" Ryou yelped. The entire street spun. "P-put me down!"

"Don't be difficult." Marik grunted, pulling Ryou into a vague bridal style hold and attempting to manoeuvre him through the open door of his truck. Ryou, disoriented as he was, couldn't help but admire Marik's strength. He didn't appear to be struggling at all; maybe picking up people was a regular pastime of his. Then his injured foot hit something and he was distracted.

Marik didn't miss Ryou's hiss of pain.

"Sorry."

"T-that's okay..." Ryou answered, almost inaudibly. Marik frowned. Ryou was finally in place in the passenger seat of the truck, but he didn't look good at all. In fact, if he wasn't shivering visibly, he could've been mistaken for a corpse. His lips were a rather alarming shade of blue, his dark eyes half shut and out of focus.

"You're shivering."

"N-no, I'm f-fine." Ryou lied.

"Don't be masochistic. I don't intend to have you freeze to death." Marik started taking off his coat, still watching Ryou carefully. He looked like he would pass out at any moment. Still, he was pretty energetic when it came to denying assistance.

"You'll b-be cold-d."

"No I won't. I haven't been lying out in the street for hours. Why do people like you always put others first? You're obviously near enough frozen, and you know I'll make you wear the coat anyway, so why bother?..." Marik scrutinised Ryou's face, looking for something. Ryou flushed and looked away.

"Hmm. Fine. Let's go." Marik threw his coat into Ryou's lap and slammed the door. Ryou could feel the heat coming from the heavy fabric, and however much he may have wanted to, he knew he wouldn't be able to return it now. Besides, the coat smelled nice, and Marik seemed pretty indifferent to it.

_Poor coat_, Ryou thought. _Don't worry, I'll appreciate you._ He wrapped the thing around his shoulder with his uninjured hand, and managed a smile.

_I'm grinning to myself and comforting an inanimate object!_ The rational part of his brain nudged him.

_Well, I'm also getting into the car of a complete stranger... A bizarre, gorgeous stranger... _The irrational part of his brain had apparently been brought to life by a spell out in the cold. The warmth of the cab and the coat and the vibrations of the engine soon had him asleep.

* * *

"Hey. Ryou! We're here. Wake up." Someone poked him in the side. Ryou grudgingly opened one eye.

Marik smiled crookedly. "You were talking to yourself. I called the men in white coats."

Ryou flushed. _What exactly had he been saying? _He hadn't even realised he'd been sleeping.

Marik laughed. "Don't worry; they'd go for me first anyway. Besides... I would have been mad to get rid of you so soon."

Ryou might have been making up the sexual intonation behind those words, but either way he blushed darker. Marik just seemed to find him amusing.

"How red are you intending to go?" he said teasingly.

"It's not funny! It's just because I'm so pale normally." Ryou complained.

"What's to blush about?" Marik probed, apparently dead set on making his companion as embarrassed as possible.

"Nothing. It's just hot in here." Ryou tried to fold his arms, forgetting that he'd hurt his wrist.

"Ow! Damn it." Ryou's face crumpled in pain.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're a klutz?" Marik said, grinning even more widely as he climbed out of the cab. Ryou couldn't bring himself to complain as Marik lifted him out of the car and carried him across an unfamiliar car park. He attempted to look around, but only succeeded in hurting his neck. The pain from his ankle was making him feel slightly sick, so he decided to relax while he had the chance.

"Are you kidnapping me?" Marik heard Ryou ask sleepily.

"Yes."

"Right. Okay... I..." Ryou's little speech was interrupted by an involuntary yawn. He appeared to give up speaking and instead slumped against Marik's shoulder, eyes closing. Marik sighed.

Eventually the strange pair arrived at the front door of the flats where Marik lived. They certainly weren't your average flats; they appeared to be a huge rambling house, rather than a tower block. Marik banged the door with his hip; it was locked, as usual.

_Crap. I forgot the midnight 'curfew'._

Marik leaned down to press the little intercom whatsit with one finger, this being made especially difficult by the deadweight of a half asleep Ryou in his arms. Not just that, but Ryou was distracting. His silky silver hair tickling Marik's neck, his disarming fragility fixing Marik's attention without fail. Marik shook the thought off and yelled into the intercom,

"Sarah, you lazy mare! Get your arse down here now!"

Ryou twitched in his arms. There was a scuffle behind the door.

"Get down, you stupid cat!" The door was eventually heaved open, and a tiny blonde woman stood there, adjusting her nightdress with one hand and holding a vicious looking cat with the other . She scowled at Marik. Marik scowled back. The cat hissed, keen to join in.

"Inconsiderate bastard. If you're going to keep coming in at God knows what time of the night, I'll give you your own key."

"I had good reason today." Marik indicated a semi conscious Ryou and walked on. "But," he paused and glanced over his shoulder "I wouldn't say no to my own key."

"Nice catch, bad boy." A girl sitting on a faded living chair glanced up from her book to appraise Ryou, smoke from her cigarette curling towards the ceiling.

"He is not a 'catch'. You might want to go back to bed. It's not polite to keep customers waiting." Marik growled.

He started walking up the stairs, wanting to be back in his own flat; preferably in bed. With or without Ryou.

They arrived after what seemed like an eternity of climbing, Marik's legs aching along with his eyes, from tiredness and what seemed like miles of dodgy paisley wallpaper. Ryou opened his eyes a little to take in his surroundings. The flat was a strange room. The living room was in a dip in the floor and all the other rooms had a little step leading up to their entrances. Ryou found himself dreading the morning; he'd be over one of those steps in a flash, and off to A and E.

_Wait, the morning? Am I considering staying the night?_

_And shouldn't I be at A and E anyway? _

He was jerked from his thoughts once again by being half dropped on the battered couch he'd seen from across the room. He moaned slightly, his ankle cramping after the long journey. Marik stretched out his arms, bones clicking, and Ryou noticed for the first time a tattoo of intricate black swirls that started on his left bicep and shoulder and crept up to the back of his neck, like a fire or perhaps the ocean.

_Definitely fire._

Marik rubbed the insides of his elbows, making the flames dance.

"Man, Ryou. You killed my arms." Marik wandered into the kitchen and started searching the cupboards, feeling the feeling creep back into his fingers. He was cold, despite what he'd told Ryou. That reminded him; Ryou was still wearing his coat. He glanced over; the black material swamped the smaller boy, making him seem even frailer than usual. Marik felt his pulse suddenly jump.

_Ryou is beautiful. He's fucking beautiful._

It was true, of course. Marik wasn't sure if he liked the way his blood ran cold when he thought Ryou's name, the way his huge dark eyes seemed to see right through you. This wasn't a safe, sexy thing. This wasn't some tart in the street. This was new.

_You need to sleep_, said the sceptical voice in his head. Marik half agreed.

"Um...Marik?"

_Damn, that voice! So shy and polite, but so... piercing. _

"Er...yes! Right." Marik quickly grabbed the things he'd been after. He'd think about this later.

Ryou hadn't meant to interrupt Marik's thoughts, but he'd looked troubled, and Ryou's arm and ankle were both throbbing painfully.

Marik stepped down from the kitchen, so effortlessly graceful that Ryou felt a spark of jealousy. He dumped a first aid kit on the sofa and sat down next to it. Ryou shrugged off the coat as quickly as he could.

"Take as many of these as you want..." Marik said, placing a tub of painkillers in Ryou's uninjured hand.

"...And give me your leg." Ryou blinked and flushed, for about the hundredth time that night. Marik laughed. "To put a bandage on, Ryou. You really are out of it!"

"Oh! Right. Do you know how to tie a bandage?"

"Please. I'm a trainee doctor."

"Wow. I wish I was so practical."

Marik only grunted in reply. Ryou unscrewed the lid of the pills and was slightly concerned to see only a few left.

"Do you get headaches a lot?" Ryou asked, glancing at Marik's face. He looked like he was concentrating, so Ryou was surprised when he answered, smiling ruefully,

"You could say that."

Ryou was intrigued, but didn't ask further. He tried to think about something other than Marik, and failed. He was so interesting. He winced, thinking of what his mother would say to that.

"_Where were you last night?"_

"_I went to a strange man's flat."_

"_Why?" _

"_Because he was __**interesting**__." _

Yes. That would go down a treat.

_Still, Marik isn't really a stranger. Well, not anymore._

Ryou thought about other people. Would they climb into a stranger's car without hesitation? Without even a flicker of fear? Would they fall into conversation as easy as breathing, and treat this stranger like they treat their best friend? It was a scary thought, and Ryou didn't want to consider the implications if the answer was no.

"Arm now. Aren't you going to take those?" Marik said, impatiently. Ryou looked up, and found himself staring into the most incredible eyes. They were animated, churning, flickering whorls of black-purple, and Ryou imagined he was seeing straight into Marik's soul.

"Quit staring."

"Sorry." Ryou took a pill, and Marik took the tub.

"Those things knock you out. By the way." Marik began wrapping a bandage around his swollen wrist. Ryou watched his hands. He had a silver band around his ring finger that Ryou had never noticed before, and another tattoo on the base of his thumb. A tiny L, which moved as he manipulated the material around Ryou's hand.

"You'll have some nice bruises _here_ in the morning."Marik commented, touching Ryou's elbow. Ryou glanced down and noticed the rather large graze. He hadn't even felt it.

He wondered what to say next. Marik made him lose his train of thought, as well as not notice noticeable injuries.

"Are you married?" Ryou asked, thinking of the ring and trying to nudge Marik into speaking again. The jewellery seemed rather at odds with what Ryou knew of Marik's personality, but then again, so did marriage.

He soon realised that that had been the wrong question to ask. Marik seized up completely, his hand holding the bandage in place, but his eyes far away. The atmosphere went from amiable to tense in a heartbeat. Ryou was sure he felt the temperature in the room plummet.

After what seemed like an eternity, Marik tied a rough knot in the bandage and stood abruptly. Ryou felt guilt rising inside him; whatever he'd said had hurt Marik, whatever unpleasant memories he'd churned up. Ryou hated stirring. He hated the idea that he'd made someone feel bad, even unintentionally. Marik packed up the first aid kit, clearly still brooding and pointedly ignoring Ryou.

Ryou glanced down at the pill in his hand, the white circle even paler than his near- translucent skin and Marik' earlier comment took on a whole new meaning. Ryou looked up at Marik again, feeling the same as he had in the tattoo parlour; slightly afraid, curious, and bemused. Once again, he felt he'd found another part to him, another mystery to unravel, like a cat prising apart a ball of wool. He watched as Marik disappeared into one of the rooms, and a few seconds later he heard him rummaging around, clearly searching for something. Ryou wasn't sure quite what to expect.

A few seconds later, Marik reappeared, carrying a pile of random bedding. Marik realised with a wry smile that he'd never had anyone to stay that hadn't been sharing his bed. He dumped them on the end of the sofa, while Ryou watched. Marik turned to leave, to disappear into his bedroom, to leave Ryou alone in the dark, to sleep.

"I'm sorry!" Ryou said, almost desperately. Marik looked to him, eyes seeming to soften from cold indigo to warm violet as he felt his heart melt and buckle under the pressure of Ryou's pleading gaze like plastic folding in a microwave, or a tin can being crushed underfoot.

"You're forgiven."

And then he snapped off the lights.

**Right. I'm really not sure how well I managed to show what the two were thinking. I had to amend the chapter a few times because Ryou was getting a bit _too_ bold, so I'd really appreciate some feedback on that... Anyway, there was originally supposed to be another bit but I thought this would be a good place to stop. You will learn about the ring, but not for a while... ;D I'm so devious. This takes place on the same night as Malik's liasons with Akefia, just so the next chappy doesn't get too confusing. **

**I love reviews, so... please? ^O^ Thanks for reading! And I do try and reply to reviews, so you don't feel unappreciated! (Is that a word?) **


	8. Black Fire and Peaches

**Hi Everyone! Welcome to chapter 7! **

**Okay, I really don't know whether this is any good, so... CC? Por favor? Please? Sil vous plait? And any other languages? Thanky you! **

**I don't own the "Lucky" song. I can't remember who it's by, but I know it's not me! (you'll see! ;p****) **

**Katxx**

* * *

The night wound on, time passing smoothly as this little corner of the world slept.

Tick.

Three O'clock.

Tick.

Four O'clock.

Tick.

Five O'clock.

In a different place entirely, on a thoroughly battered couch, Ryou Bakura turned over in his sleep, twitching, his eyes shut tightly, hands curled into fists, so close to waking up...

"_Just say yes..."_

Then he moved an inch too far.

"Agh!"

Ryou woke with a start, and wasn't entirely surprised to find himself lying on the floor, limbs splayed out like those of a doll that had been tossed aside by a stroppy child.

"What a lovely awakening." He muttered to himself. It wasn't easy being about as graceful and coordinated as a giraffe on an ice rink. At length he heaved himself up into a sitting position, this being difficult with one wrist out of action, crossed his long legs and leaned against the sofa, his back aching after its recent clash with the floor.

A stream of light was creeping in from the gap above the curtains and turning plain dust motes into sparkling glitter which spiralled through the air, moving and twisting aimlessly towards the floor, where they would eventually gather into ugly, insignificant dust balls. Ryou watched them for a bit, trying and failing to follow one individual point of light, but eventually found that one of his legs had gone numb. He scowled and stuck it out to the side, shaking it and fully aware of how weird that would look if Marik happened to catch him...

_Marik. _

The events of the previous night came flooding back. For a moment, he felt a rush of delirious happiness, for reasons he couldn't fathom. Then a mini panic attack.

_Oh, God. I Hope I didn't wake him up._

Ryou glanced at the bedroom door across the room, disappointed to see that it was firmly closed, smugly concealing anything and everything within. Toying with the idea of sneaking off before Marik woke up (but dismissing it because of the long walk), Ryou pulled himself to his feet, or foot, almost skidding on his discarded sketchbook, his pyjama top hanging from his skinny frame. Ryou shivered, briefly remembering how cold it had been the night before, and found himself watching Marik's door once again.

Considering how little he knew about Marik, it was ridiculous to even be thinking about nosing around in his bedroom while he was sleeping, Ryou told himself as he bent down to pick up the sketchbook.

_I will __**not **__stoop so low as to spy on him. I'm not that obsessed. Am I? _

Ryou hopped across the threadbare carpet, wobbling on his one leg and nearly tripping over the step next to the plain white door.

Behind which was Marik. Ryou could hardly contain his delight. Who knew something as juvenile as sneaking around and spying could be so much fun?

_Oh dear. I am truly pathetic. _

Ryou placed his uninjured hand on the cold door handle and turned it slowly, pushing the door inwards as quietly as he could. He remembered long ago games of hide and seek. Back in the days when he'd had someone to play with.

_The door is always the hardest part._

Luckily, there was no crash of falling paraphernalia or (even worse) a fully conscious Marik staring at him in confusion. Ryou could just imagine the expression of shock on his face. Then he'd probably laugh and make some comment about stalkers. And Ryou would undoubtedly wind up blushing.

Behind the door lay a disappointingly generic bedroom, everything bathed yellow by the sun which shone in from a huge bay window opposite the door. Stacks of books and magazines were randomly pressed up against all four walls, which were painted light blue. The only other furniture was a rickety looking stool and a double bed, on which Marik was lying.

Ryou limped towards the bed, making sure he didn't knock the books, for no reason other than to get a better view.

With the light pouring over the bed, Marik looked almost angelic. The harshness in his face seemed to soften and his closed eyes no longer displayed the darkness that was Marik. You could almost be fooled into thinking he was an innocent. Ryou was entranced. This Marik was stunning.

He glanced down at the pad in his hand, and at once felt inspiration flood into him.

He placed the pad carefully on the crumpled bedclothes before dragging the stool towards him and sitting heavily on it. Taking a pencil from a pot balanced precariously on the windowsill, he retrieved his pad and flicked through to a blank page, biting his lip nervously. Could he do this justice?

Marik lay, one arm flung out to the side, the other folded beneath him, his hand curled up next to his face, his blonde hair catching the light as he slept. His dark tattoo spread all the way up his side, as though a black fire had been lit at his hip and had crawled up his spine and crept across his ribs, scarring and staining the flawless skin.

Ryou tried to capture this on his paper, filling the white with black marks that tried to map out the person he saw in front of him. Ryou was a talented artist; he could draw the beautiful face and the tanned, wiry limbs and torso as easy as breathing, yet he remained frustrated. There were aspects of Marik he couldn't capture, he couldn't hold down long enough to draw; the way his ribs rose and fell, the curved mesh pulling the skin taunt, making the fire dance and the near silent sound of breathing, and his eyes wandering beneath their lids and the half – smile he wore in sleep.

Ryou could feel himself smiling in response. The urge to reach out and touch him was almost unbearable, but that would shatter the illusion. This ethereal creature would become a human being as soon as Ryou could feel his heart beating.

Then Marik stretched and muttered something, his head turning suddenly.

"Mmmph...Kura..."

Ryou jumped back.

_Crap, crap, crap. _

Ryou did the first thing he could think of. He closed the sketchbook and threw it on the floor.

_Inventive, Ryou. Really, really inventive! _

He watched as Marik opened his eyes a little, a sliver of indigo staring blearily at him.

"Eh...Bakura?"

Ryou frowned. How did Marik even know his surname?

"Bakura?" He asked, suspicion lacing his voice.

Marik opened his eyes a little wider, finally focusing on Ryou, who folded his arms, waiting for a response. Recognition flashed at last, and Marik gave him a tired half smile.

"Sorry... thought you were someone else. Ryou, right?" He said, laughing quietly. It was a strange laugh; a sad, nostalgic laugh.

Ryou wasn't sure what to say, so he just said "Good morning."

Marik sat up, rubbing his head thoughtfully, messing his hair even more.

"What...what exactly are you doing in my bedroom?"

Ryou's mouth opened into an O, as if he was about to say something, but then he changed his mind.

Marik grinned at him; it was a grin of pure, if beautiful, evil.

"Cat got your tongue?" he said slyly.

"Erm... no." Ryou desperately tried to think of a reason for his being there, but couldn't.

Marik tapped him on the nose. "Nosey!" he said childishly, bouncing to his feet with a giggle. Ryou blinked in surprise.

"Now, shoo! Go and find some food, or something."

Ryou got up from his stool and slipped out of the room. Once outside he pondered over the appearance of this bizarre, beautiful stranger in his dull, monotonous life.

_"I'm so lucky, lucky! I'm so lucky, lucky! I'm so lovely, lovely. I'm so lovely, lovely."_

The sound of Marik's singing over the buzz of the shower, almost bell like, childishly high in comparison to his more masculine speaking voice, made Ryou smile once again.

He remembered Malik once commenting on his 'cute little dimples'. Those annoying little buggers that just _appeared _whenever he smiled. Even worse, they sometimes appeared when he was angry, meaning his scowl looked about as threatening as a rabbit. He wondered whether Marik had noticed them.

_Why should I care what some random (good looking) guy thinks about my __**dimples**__? Bloody hell, Ryou! _

Marik burst out of his bedroom, still humming happily, a towel flung around his shoulders. Or, he seemed happy, as far as Ryou could tell. His dazzling eyes darted about the room, as if he was a child fascinated by the world and all its madness.

He reminded Ryou of Malik. Only more strange and extraordinary.

"Shall we bother with breakfast? There isn't that much food around."

"I don't mind," Ryou said, "Really!" he insisted, when Marik gave him a disbelieving glance.

"You're such a little pushover. And I'm a very bad host. I don't even have bread – or edible bread, anyway."

Ryou wrinkled his nose in mild disgust "That's gross."

Marik's grin stretched wider, "Isn't it just? Shall I take you home?"

"Yes, I... wait, what?" Ryou felt his heart sink inexplicably. He tried not to let his disappointement show on his face.

"You didn't think you were staying forever, did you? Because I don't plan on keeping you." Marik said teasingly.

"No, of course not. I just..." Ryou looked down at his bare feet, noticing the bandage for the first time that morning.

_Of course it's going to go like this. I should have known. I never get lucky. _

"Ry-ou! Don't look so down; you don't want to hang around me for too long, it gets boring. Trust me."

Marik lifted Ryou's chin so he was facing him. There was hurt in his dark brown eyes, and Marik couldn't quite work out why. Ryou prised his face free of Marik's grip.

"Aw, come on. Don't be like that." Marik frowned, more out of confusion than anger.

People didn't usually want to stick around, and he hadn't supposed Ryou would be any different. People came in and out of Marik's life faster than raindrops slide down a window on a rainy day, and most of them left running. Marik had just resigned himself to that fact. People didn't like him. Or rather, they liked him, just not enough to bother putting up with his problems. Of which, he'd been told, there were many.

_Well, Ryou is different. You could see that from the start. Idiot._

* * *

Still, they found themselves in the truck, driving away from Marik's 'home' ten minutes later, Ryou hunched against the window. It was only about 6 in the morning, and the sun was still hanging low, setting the horizon alight.

"Turn right here." Ryou's voice was loud after the prolonged silence.

"What?" Marik turned to Ryou, who stared back.

"You missed it." He said, matter of factly.

"I missed... oh, shit." Marik was tempted to hit his head over the steering wheel. Ryou burst out laughing.

"Earth calling Marik?" He giggled, and Marik couldn't help but join in.

"Ryou, you're such a loon. That wasn't even funny."

"Oh, but it was." Ryou continued grinning for a few seconds, then suddenly a look of absolute horror crossed his face, and he clapped a hand over his mouth.

"Marik!" he squeaked.

"What's wrong?"

_If I've run over someone's cat, I'm dead meat. _

"My mother." Ryou said, blinking rapidly.

"You what?"

"She's going to kill me!" Ryou grabbed his arm in exaggerated panic. "Don't take me back! I need to go into hiding!"

Now it was Marik's turn to laugh. "Yes. We'll get you a new identity and a couple of bodyguards to protect you from Psycho Mother. And I'll patrol the perimeter of your hideout with a sniper and some grenades."

"That sounds pretty accurate, actually." Ryou mumbled, poking Marik's arm, annoyed he wasn't taking this seriously.

A few minutes later, Marik spoke

"It's really thanks to your friend that you didn't freeze last night."

"My friend?"

"You know. The pretty one. Blonde. Noisy."

"Oh, you mean Malik? What does he have to do with anything?"

"He came back to the shop on Akefia's whim," Marik looked scornful at that, "And knocked a bunch of things off my desk. One of those things was my room key. So I went all the way home, found out I couldn't unlock the door, got really, really pissy and then drove all the way back. That's when I saw you. So I guess you'll have to thank _him _for that, and for the fact that my landlord was being such a cow last night."

"Malik's an angel. He's always rescuing me." Ryou said, smiling. "I should thank you too, obviously. I owe you one."

"Nah." Marik shrugged. "All in a days work."

Ryou frowned. _So much for being special._

Soon getting bored with being annoyed, Ryou started fiddling with the handle for the glove box under the dashboard. It burst open and a few leaflets fell out onto the floor. Ryou recoiled instantly, as one does when they knock something over in a shop. Marik was apparently still trying to get back to that turning they had missed and so didn't notice, him being busy cussing and squinting at Domino's infamously complex road signs.

Ryou breathed a sigh of relief, and continued nosing around in the small compartment. It's contents consisted mostly of old receipts and discarded speeding tickets (unpaid, most likely) and Ryou was about to abandon his search, when he noticed something strange right at the back; an unidentifiable object. Reaching his hand in, he realised it was lace. Curiosity piqued, he pulled the object out. It took him all of three seconds to work out what it was.

"Ack! Oh, gross!" Ryou yelped, and threw the thing back inside the glove box, slamming the door as fast as he could, as though it were going to jump out and bite him.

"What now? Did I miss another turning, or run over an old lady?"

"Marik, why do you have thongs in your glove box?" Ryou scrubbed his hand on his pyjama bottoms.

"It's not mine, if that's what you're suggesting." Marik said, affronted.

"That does _not_ answer my question!" Ryou looked at him, giving him the 'death glare'.

"Well, you know what they say about spies. You might come across something you don't like."

Ryou muttered something along the lines of "avoiding the question" and turned to the window huffily. He could see Marik laughing out of the corner of his eye.

The houses flashing past the windows were slowly becoming grander and neater. As they turned onto Ryou's street Marik gave a low whistle.

"I wonder if I'll get a reward for rescuing you. Seriously, it'd probably set me for life." He looked around, a tiny spark of jealousy starting in his chest at all of the fancy facades and expensive, shiny cars.

Ryou sighed. "You wish. My mother would probably faint if she saw you on our doorstep, and then have you arrested for kidnapping."

"I'm offended."

"Don't be. My family are rich snobs. People think I am." There was hurt in that, along with a low, burning rage. Ryou felt his stomach twist as he voiced what he'd known for years, but had never truly admitted.

"My family are dead. People think I am." Marik said quietly.

"What?" Ryou turned to Marik as the truck drew up outside his house. Marik seemed far away; probably remembering that which he wasn't keen to remember.

"Nothing. We're here." Marik said, his voice hollow, his eyes dark.

Ryou clambered out of the truck awkwardly, and started walking towards his house; his huge, ornate whitewashed cage, which despite its balconies and bays, still managed to come across as hideously ugly to its youngest inmate.

"Hey."

Ryou turned, his white hair lit peach and gold in the sunlight, his eyes brightened to toffee. Marik had leaned across the seat and wound the window down with some difficulty(it was an old truck). He tapped the inside of the door; it was a command.

Ryou walked back to the truck, and stood, hands laced behind his back, feeling shy and slightly lightheaded.

"Will I ever see you again?" he asked quietly, taking a step closer to the open window. He balanced on the very edge of the kerb, swaying back and forth like a little child. Marik shrugged and flashed him a fabulously crooked smile.

"If you're lucky." He said nonchalantly. "Or maybe if you're unlucky. It depends on how good you are at avoiding me. Or if you do the sensible thing, and skip town."

"Assume that I'm terrible at avoiding you. Because I won't be trying." Ryou said, scowling.

Marik tutted, "Wrong answer." He leaned out of the window, and his lips brushed against Ryou's cheekbone in what could be considered a kiss.

Ryou's heart skipped, and then Marik was gone. Ryou flushed happily.

The image of him, stretched out across the seats, his dark arms folded lazily on the door, a slice of tan back and black tattoo visible between his jeans and his shirt, his indigo eyes slanted and hypnotising and alien, was enough to distract Ryou from the imminent danger that his mother presented.

_Of course, that kiss probably meant nothing to Marik,_ Ryou thought, as he walked up his garden path. _So I won't get my hopes up. I'll probably never see him again, and he probably won't even care. No, won't even notice. _

As the door opened and he saw his mother standing there, eyes blazing, he imagined Marik placing the same feather light kiss on the cheek of another person.

The owner of the lingerie in his glove box.

One of the tenants in the house he stayed in.

One of the customers in the tattoo parlour where he worked.

As his mother seized him by the collar and screamed at him, her words grating on his ears, he imagined what might have happened if he'd been a bit more lucky.

Maybe if he'd told Marik what he thought right there in the tattoo parlour, instead of blinking stupidly like a rabbit in the headlights, maybe if he'd refused to leave the flat, maybe if he'd taken Marik's face in his hands and kissed him right back through the window of his battered truck, he wouldn't be here. And Marik wouldn't be gone.

He saw his mother raise a hand, as if to slap him, and he flinched instinctively, cowering. The ringed hand hovered, shaking, until his mother drew it back to herself, clutched it in the other and told him;

"Get out of my sight!"

Ryou went.

He wasn't going to school today.

* * *

The red truck drew up outside the hospital, parking itself clumsily into one of the staff spaces.

Marik jumped out of the driver's seat, not looking forward to putting on his hospital scrubs. Out of all the clothes ever invented, they were probably the most hideous.

He rounded the front of the truck, looking at the open window, where, just minutes before, the beautiful Ryou had been standing, looking prettier than anything Marik had ever seen. And he had seen a lot.

The only explanation he could come up with for Ryou's perfection was that Ryou was somehow magical, and one day he would vanish into a puff of smoke. Or that Marik would wake up. Neither of which was particularly optimistic.

_Maybe Ryou is just a fabulous person. Unlike you, Marik. You're a disgrace, but he's wonderful. You do the right thing, and keep away from him._ The cynical voice in his head chastised him harshly.

As Marik entered the hospital, and breathed in the familiar smell of bleach and recycled air, and signed in at Reception, the secretary adjusted her glasses.

"What is this vision I see before me?" she asked incredulously "Marik, smiling?" The receptionist was at least 60 and worked unforgiving hours, but she still found the time to make fun of Marik.

"Aren't I allowed to be happy? Oh yeah. I forgot. You're too old to understand." Marik grinned cheekily.

"I'm not so old, young man. Now, what exactly is the cause of this absurd change in character? Or should I just admit you to the mental ward."

Marik thought for a moment about how to explain himself. Then his grin returned.

"I think I'm in love." He said.

He left with a wink, but the old woman thought about him long after. Out of curiosity she searched up Marik's background on the hospital database. What she discovered shocked her. How the past described here could have churned out a fairly sane person in the end, she could not fathom.

"The poor, poor boy." She said, shaking her head in disbelief.

_If anyone deserves love, he does._

* * *

**Meh. Well, I hope you liked it! I know what I'm going to write for the whole thing, I just need to work out the time span to make sure we aren't missing out days here and there.**

**Love you all (especially the reviewers)! And while I'm here, do you think Chapter 1 is really really dire? Because I don't think people liked it that much... Or maybe I'm just paranoid. **

**I just realised how much longer this chapter is than i thought it was. Oops. O_o My bad. **

**Kal277 xxx**


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